Saturday, August 13, 2011

I don't know about you, but I have been inundated with a plethora of cucumbers (say that three time fast!) I don't want them to go to waste, but I can't possibly eat all those cucumber before they start to turn to compost.

Thank goodness for one of my favorite books this time of year, The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food by Janet Chadwick. She actually has a recipe for freezing cucumbers, which I decided to try this year. I'm sharing her method for preparing them below, which reminds me of the method I use to make Japanese salt pickles:

Freezing Cucumber Slices

Take two quarts (8 cups) of thinly sliced cucumbers and 1 thinly sliced medium onion and combine with two tablespoons salt in a colander. Place the colander in a bowl and let stand two hours to drain moisture from the cucumbers. Wash and drain the mixture, then wash and drain it a second time to remove all the salt.

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers and onion with 2/3 cup each of sugar, vinegar and oil and 1 teaspoon of celery seed. Let stand one full day in refrigerator. The package the cumbers in containers leaving 1 inch of head space and freeze.

Enjoy them after one week in the freezer. Once defrosted, they will be good for several weeks in the refrigerator.